The Scheme

Disclaimer: Look in chapter 1

The Scheme - chapter 12

Sakura felt her control running away from her. Her relationship with Sai-kun took a particularly awkward turn, which she had yet decided to be a good or bad thing. In the past week, she still sought him out to accompany her on some venture daily, and he always agreed, although his compliance came after a minute or two of thought provoking rumination. No witty comebacks and no accusations of her man-less existence, he would merely nod his head or say “okay.” The oddest part was that she sensed their relationship to be strained. Granted they still bickered like life-long enemies, but the spark and intrigue of their insulting diatribes faded from its original glory.

“Sai, your rudeness is so cliché. Maybe you should learn some uniqueness. Lee-san is definitely at the top of his game in that department.”

“Whatever ugly.”

“So I should request Lee-san to teach you. He would whole-heartedly agree for you to enrich your youth in many and manly ways I don’t want to hear about.”

“I’m not talking to you when you are acting this brainless.”

When she dragged him to help her with her groceries, which he carried after snatching the heavy bags because she did feed five people on a regular basis including all her teammates and her porn addicted sensei who did not know the difference between home cooking, microwave meals, and dog food, they settled in a café for some refreshments.

“Why so quiet Sai? It’s not like you to allow a moment of silence to go by when you could have been shooting your mouth with asinine garbage.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he muttered, a very contrary statement compared to his vacant smiling face.

“Something is definitely up. I gave you the perfect headway to mock me with ‘look who’s talking ugly because you never seem to shut up’ or something like that. Are you okay?”

“I feel fine,” he answered dully. He stared at her as if he was measuring her or scrutinizing her “seemingly ugly” face. It unconsciously disturbed her.

“You sure are acting weird. Hey, what happened the night at the bar? I remember you taunting Naruto, and then the next moment, I’m waking up with a serious migraine in my bed.”

For a nanosecond, his eyebrow twitched and his mouth curled down. Just as suddenly, he returned his mask with black lackluster eyes. “Kakashi-san took you home.”

“Thank god I wasn’t awake for that. If I had to experience his trite remarks again I would have killed him,” she seethed.

“Listen, let’s talk about something else,” he spoke to change the subject which made her wonder whether he was uncomfortable.

“Okay. What do you want to talk about? And don’t go about your theories about the abnormality of Naruto’s dysfunctional penis and how the Hyuuga family will no longer continue their line.”

Sai’s strangeness veered off path recently that Sakura including her brain and all her inner selves ran around in circles to comprehend. When she believed to have figured him out and extended her arm out of friendship, he continued to surprise her in the most alarming way.

Take their evening in last night. While over dinner, she handed him a package of a heavy ream of Chasako papers she received from Neji who complained in his own way about the troubles he had to endure to purchase it. Her anticipation of his reaction to such a sincere gift was sorely over dramatized. Rather than graciously receive the papers as she expected that he intended to do, he at first refused to accept it. When she nicely and forcefully pushed it into his hands with a cordial threat of “I’ll shove it up your ass,” he revealed his frown once more. Unlike the others she had seen, this one appeared more convincing and thoughtful.

“I wish you didn’t do this,” he said quietly as he stroked the fine quality of the papers with his calloused fingers.

“That’s nonsense. As I said before, you are my friend. I like to give presents to my friends, especially the ones who put up with me and all my madness,” she grinned cheekily.

“Sakura……it’s……”

“You’re speechless!” she hooted in glee from his mentioning of her name again. “Wow, you actually remembered my name. For the longest time, I thought you possessed the intelligence of a dung beetle because you had to come up with stupid nicknames for everyone just to figure out who they are.”

“It’s not that, ugly,” he quickly countered before faltering back into an uncharacteristic stutter. “It’s…It’s…” His eyes scattered about to look at every which direction except her face. The confusion and uncertainty shone through his orbs, and his mouth hung open ready to say something but was prevented by some mysterious force.

Sakura quickly contemplated the strangeness of his behavior. She gently laid a hand on his arm which he jerked away from at first before she seized his limb once again to demand that he face her. With as much sincerity as she felt, she put her perceived reflections into words. “I do have another reason why I dragged you to my apartment only to serve you Ichiraku ramen. Happy Birthday, Sai-kun. I checked it out in the Hokage’s records some time before.”

He didn’t respond. All she heard was his breathing. What she saw she dare not verbally articulate nor could she. His eyes widened, his nostrils flared, and his lips pressed together tightly into a thin line. The expression conveyed gave an impression of bewilderment, sadness, and contentment jumbled together into something virtually unexplainable. For a novice in the field of emotional experiences, he certainly dove into a vat of it to conjure up such a complex one.

He clutched her arms with shaking hands and jolted her into his chest. He grabbed her like a needy child and firmly wrapped his arms around her body completely smothering her much smaller form within his. With his nose rubbing against her hair, she felt his warm breath, a rush of air tingled her scalp.

Initially, she was stunned by his action and the enormous waves of strange emotions being emitted off of him, but she attempted to rationalize everything even though what she alleged to be the truth was truly off the mark.

When Sakura settled on a reasonable justification, she returned his gesture by tenderly stroking his back with her hands. “It’s okay. It’s okay. You aren’t alone.”

He tightened his embrace almost squeezing all the air out of her lungs. In an act of compassion, she obliged to his desperation. With such close contact, a voice in her mind mentioned the familiarity of his smell, which she instantly ignored because of its incredulity. Her mind advised her that she ought to comfort him as best as possible. So in her soothing voice, she said, “I’m probably your first friend. I’m glad to have that honor. Remember that you will always have a life-long friend in me.”

His body stiffened, and the warmth and the moment were lost.

“Sai-kun, what’s the matter?”

He did not release her but held her captive near his chilling body for another minute.

“Sai?” Sakura insisted more loudly.

He dropped his arms and stepped back. He restored his blank mask, but this time, the luster in his eyes dimmed to non-existence so that he again appeared like his former self five weeks prior.

He chuckled blandly and placed his fingers on his temple. “I was just checking my theory to see if a man made physical contact with someone as ugly as yourself that he would contract a disease where his limbs fall off,” he said in his dead pan voice while wearing his pretend smile.

“That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. You just wanted to touch me,” she teased back. When his eyes flickered to slip a momentary sparkle, she hastily resumed what she had planned to prevent any more awkwardness to reemerge. “I baked a cake. It’s the best recipe Choji ever came up with. This is my first time making it, so I hope that it’s good.”

“So I’m your guinea pig. Finally you show your true nature as a witch to go along with your deformity and mix some poison in the batter.”

“You may not be able to comprehend in your miniscule mind, but I wouldn’t resort to something as poisoning the food when I’m going to take a slice as well moron.”

“You take too much credit for your intellect. You should put some emphasis on something else.”

“Like my looks? You are so uncreative. At least I vary my insults by attacking your blatant sexual orientation, overwhelming stupidity, and retarded personality.

“I’m talking about your ant hills.”

“Pervert.”

The rest of the evening went without a hitch – just like the good ole times – but that incident stood out in Sakura’s mind like a proverbial pimple, something one desires to ignore but is starkly present. The motherly side of her determined that he simply needed someone to cheer for him on his birthday. Like Naruto, Sai lived his life alone without true friendship, and she would happily be his dependable person like she strived to be for Naruto. Yet, somehow a faceless voice amongst her inner selves quietly disagreed and went unnoticed.

It never occurred to Sakura’s mind until much later to really examine herself when it came to her relationship with Sai. After they spent all this time together since his initial acceptance to her plan, Sakura had finally assessed her own change when it came to her foul mouthed, rude teammate. She minded his insults less and less, and more and more frequently, she actually sought it out. In hypocritical contrast, her reactions to his words were not as indifferent as they once were.

When he called someone obviously plain and homey to be attractive, Sakura vehemently attacked him about his lack of taste and preference to masculine features. When he expressed his desires not to meet up with her, she would push all his buttons until he agreed. She acted more childish sometimes, and verbally assaulting him made her feel slightly giddy especially when he aspired to return her barbs with his own as ardently and as immaturely as hers.

She did not fully understand the whys behind her feelings and reactions, so she construed her thoughts and behaviors to be something normal when one befriends someone new and discovers likeable traits about them. Besides, she had other urgent matters that occupied her mind – essentially the scheme she expertly crafted regarding Sasuke-kun.

Over the past week, she anticipated changes to take place in Sasuke-kun. She, of course, was correct. He basically shadowed her when she went about her daily routines. It pleased her how she could sense his presence. Not only did her Sasuke-kun dictionary become a reliable and permanent facet in her life, but another important tool in her line of Sasuke oriented arsenal became ever useful. It was her super duper, hyper-sensitive Sasuke-kun radar. Throughout her years as a fanatical fangirl and loyal teammate, she trained the hairs in the back of her neck to rise whenever Sasuke-kun’s dark aura was nearby. Originated at first to edge out her fangirl competitors, she later improved upon it out of necessity to work more fluidly in a team. As she developed perfecting her chakra control, she honed this little skill so that she would be alerted of his presence like a cat would do when a dog nears it. The drawback, which she planned to remedy, was that she had to consciously expect Sasuke’s arrival for her radar to be effective.

At this point in her plan, Sasuke would be knee deep in thought. Many months ago when she outlined her strategies, she attentively researched aspects of her moody beloved’s personality. On paper, the two of them shared one essential trait that made the entire scheme possible – their obsessions. She fervently pursued her dream to be the next Uchiha matriarch, and he yearned for the resurrection of his clan. How convenient that both goals can be obtained. So she shrewdly intended for Sasuke-kun to recognize the following calculation: Resurrection of clan = Sakura + marriage. She premeditated to provide the many reasons why she was the only one qualified for the position, and it was up to him to decide her worth. When it came to the workings of his brain, Sakura had to risk that he would come up with her conclusions. This would be the correct time for him to make his decisions. It appeared that her hypothesis was proving true.

The day after the bar incident, she spotted Sasuke lurking in a dark corner observing her as she performed surgery. Somehow he managed to enter the restricted room without the numerous shinobi noticing him, and she too would have been oblivious if not had her Sasuke-senses tingled. Later in the afternoon, she noticed him behind her booth when she had lunch with Ino and Shikamaru. There were Sasuke-kun sightings popping up left and right, some were well hidden and others very obvious.

Once she found Sasuke seated behind her desk, his elbows propped up on the table, his hands joined in contemplation. His expression was a common one of a brooding, angst-filled man.

“Sasuke-kun, you are full of unexpected surprises,” she greeted him with a smile she only reserved for him.

He gazed at her pensively and gave her a terse nod.

“Can I help you with something?”

“Ah.”

“And?” This time, Sakura was lost as to what he sought from her. It could be his insistence for a rematch, but when it came to battle, he was never this taciturn in requesting a challenge.

“You haven’t eaten today. Let’s go,” he instructed, rising to his feet to walk to the door. She followed because her stomach and little Sakura both performed jigs, albeit the one in her stomach was a bit uncomfortable.

The request for the battle came soon afterwards while she was in the training ground blowing up steam from another visit of Jiraiya-sama’s half wit animal. That old pervert possessed some sadistic streak, another half ass and irritating personality trait, probably passed down from teacher to student. The old man, in the most infuriating way possible – with doodled hearts all over the note and creepy insinuations of his likes when it came to her anatomy – sent her notice that his novel would be delayed due to the late revision. Again she had to change her strategy, and the mounting stress compounded worsened her blood pressure.

“Sakura, why don’t we conduct out fight now?” he posed after appearing out of thin air.

“With pleasure, Sasuke-kun,” she replied pleasantly, her fists shaking for some destruction regardless if the target happened to be her sweetheart.

Without any more delay, he activated his sharingan and rushed to her side. She parried then punched him with a chakra infused hand which he easily evaded.

“The trick last time won’t work again.” He grabbed her wrist and twisted it.

Sakura flipped into the direction of her limb, landing behind him, and freed her arm before she swung her other hand aimed at his neck. “It worked then. That’s all it matters.”

“Hn,” he snorted before jumping high up in the air raining the ground with expertly hurled shurikens.

She jumped back then gathered chakra to her feet that she stationed against a boulder to use it as a launch site. She shot at him like a torpedo, but his eyes predicted every movement. He easily dodged her attack, but she turned her body in midair to pitch three kunais directly at his head. Without any time to escape the approaching weapons, he quickly had his kunai ready and countered her air-born strike.

Back and forth they went, his speed considerably faster, but her enthusiasm slightly made up for this disadvantage. Without the secret jutsu, she had to pull all stops with him to have survived this long without losing…..that and he was limited to taijutsu. However, she too was prevented from healing herself regularly in their fight which would have aided her immensely.

“You’re better this time,” he commented, breathing somewhat heavily.

She gasped desperately. “Thanks but I don’t think I’m good enough. I need to get stronger. Become better,” she managed to get out in between wheezes.

“Your training is in healing and more defensive than offensive. You are one of the strongest kunoichis in the village,” he assured her. Certainly when he battled, he developed a tendency to become more gregarious. It was his element and his comfort zone. He lived, ate, and breathed this shit.

“Well I’m going to do my damnest not to lose this one then.”

His lips lifted and red eyes gleamed. “Be prepared.”

He attacked her once again with more fervor. She barely parried his attacks, thanking her knowledge of the taijutsu combos he favored. She equally returned his assaults with her own strikes that levied the ground in many places around the training site.

For another ten minutes, they clashed, Sakura looking worse than her opponent who sported a few bruises of his own. Finally, the end came when he did an unexpected move on her that misdirected her attention for a few seconds. He utilized his lightening speed and quickly sprang upon her causing her to lay face down on the ground with his weight on her back as he held her wrists at the small of her back with one hand and aimed a kunai at her neck with the other.

He leaned forward next to her ear and whispered breathily, “You lose.”

Her low chakra reserves, exhausted body, and inability to use genjutsu all added to her agreement to his assessment. “Fine.”

She deactivated the chakra from her hands and waited for him to release her which he didn’t. Instead, he seized her hands and spread them down on the ground and rested his entire body on top of hers. She heard him pant and felt his skin against her hair.

Not that she would complain about the closer contact but his weight was crushing her lungs. “Er, Sasuke-kun, a little air please?” she squeaked while little Sakura shouted, ‘Just a little more, please…”

He was instantly off, and she rose to her knees to brush the dust off her clothes. She began to heal herself, and when she turned to Sasuke to inquire whether or not he needed healing of his own, she saw him watching her intently.

“Is something wrong?”

“No,” he replied succinctly.

Standing on her feet, she shook her body to remove any more dust. “So what do you want for me to do?”

His black eyes regarded her a moment. “I’ll tell you later.” And with that he disappeared in the same fashion as his arrival.

Curiouser and curiouser Sakura became, and she was about to experience cardiac arrest with each new revelation of Sasuke no one had the fortune to encounter first hand. When she headed to meet him at the regular team gathering place on the bridge for their weekly excursion, she located him leaning against the railing with a crate of sake at his feet.

“Weren’t we suppose to go there together?” she inquired with bafflement.

He shrugged and wordlessly lifted up the crate. She trailed after him when he abruptly walked away with her responsibility. He promptly placed the crate on the receptionist’s desk in the Hokage tower ignoring the confused chunnin and began to leave. Out of confusion, Sakura remained in her position inside the room which provoked him to turn and look at her meaningfully.

“Sakura, come,” he ordered which she eagerly complied wondering what bomb he would drop this time.

And sure enough he led her into one of her fantasies she dreamt of when she was twelve years old. He took her to an expensive tea house well known for their sweets, refreshing teas, and romantic setting. She visited once with Sai after coercing him with inventive threats of pain, but now she occupied this cozy setting with her dream man without force, duress or manipulation – well not direct manipulation. She always desired to return, but in all conscientiousness, she could not drag Sai with her again after he stubbornly refused to let her help pay the exorbitant check. But now, Sasuke-kun, the current head of the Uchiha family and their money, strived to accompany her to this magical and romantic place. Little Sakura had already passed out due to delirious happiness while Inner Sakura fanned her and slapped her continuously to wake her up.

Cautiously, outer Sakura asked, “Why here?’

He looked away and dryly remarked, “You did mention that it’s polite to have tea when one has company.”

Did Orchimaru successfully take over Sasuke-kun’s body or did she hear correctly in his attempt at a witty retort? However, the little blimp passed quickly and Sasuke-kun resumed his usual non-talkative self.

During the course of their tea and cakes, he mentioned something very endearing.

“You’re annoying,” he smirked. The last time he said those words, her world fell apart, and he bruised her heart until it ached for days. But the current context would be the exact opposite from that faithful day many years past. He made the statement after he ordered another slice of cake taking account of the empty dish of cake she voraciously consumed while refusing any sweets for himself. And most importantly, the intent in those three little words lacked the disgust and loathing attributable to it when they were originally stated.

“Excuse me?”

“Your nickname.”

“Oh,” she grinned. A blush rushed to her cheeks, and her heart did cartwheels. Although explicitly insulting, she could sense the affection behind her new nickname similar to when Sasuke-kun calls Naruto “dobe” for the blonde’s self-sacrificing antics.

Nothing more was said on that matter, but the significance in such insignificant words demonstrated the milestone she had reached in her ability to dig beneath his impenetrable veneer.

Once, he suddenly showed up at her apartment in the evening after she performed a grueling surgical procedure. Somehow, the picture of the solemn, rigid man holding takeout containers never came into her mind, but voila, there it was. He essentially barged into her home and basically commanded her not to overwork herself, commenting that she would “be useless if she continuously worked at the schedule she stupidly set upon herself” or something just as derisive that made Sakura’s heart flutter. One would never presume him to be such a chivalrous shinobi.

Two nights ago while on an emergency double shift in the hospital, Sakura drudged herself to heal all the critically wounded victims of a ninja attack in a village miles away. During the middle of her second round, she felt her energy completely depleted, her head woozy, and her legs transformed into stone. She rested her head against a tall cabinet in the hallway to stop the world from spinning when strong male arms lifted her up and gently placed her on a chair.

When she focused her vision on her rescuer, Sasuke-kun’s furious face appeared before her.

“Sakura, didn’t I tell you not to overdo it?”

She tiredly nodded because she had no energy to say anything at the moment.

“Stay here,” he commanded and left.

Some time past, but she could not account for the time while she took uncomfortable catnaps in her seated position. He returned and snorted at the sight of her one leg dangling over one arm of the chair while her head became mashed between the other arm the chair and her own limbs.

She was roused out of her state from him shaking her.

“Sasuke-kun, you’re back. Thanks, but I need to get back to work.” She stretched her body and yawned loudly. “Oops. Excuse me.”

“I talked to the Hokage, and I’m taking you home.” His tone of voice left no room for an argument.

He hauled her into a standing position and seized her wrist to forcefully escort her out, ignoring her demands to be released. She endeavored to follow his fast pace but her fatigue wore her down. She stumbled slightly causing him to halt immediately. His eyebrow quirked in annoyance

“Sorry but I, hey –“

Sasuke suddenly lifted her in his arms and carried her bridal style at break neck speed.

Sakura should have been overjoyed, and undoubtedly little Sakura bawled her eyes from elation. Yet another inner self stepped forward who kicked little Sakura aside. This inner self represented the ninja Sakura who endured hardship for many years as Tsunade-sama’s apprentice and who struggled to become stronger. Ninja Sakura, while pleased by Sasuke-kun attention, admonished outer self against hard headed males who coddled and needlessly protected her regardless of who it was. She would stand proudly on her two feet because it was her ninja way now.

“Can you please let me down? I’m far from a damsel in distress,” she complained.

She continued to rant but he did not heed her words and pretended not to even listen. Finally, she relented when he set her down in front of her apartment door.

“Thanks Sasuke-kun, but it was unnecessary,” she said while quickly disabling her alarm system. “Good night.” She opened her door fully expecting him to leave her but he walked right in past her stunned form. What a surprise.

“Sasuke-kun….?”

He stood in the middle of the living room and glared at her frigidly. “Get to bed Sakura before I make you.”

Ninja Sakura was riled up at being treated so childishly. ‘How dare he!’ Outer Sakura was about to translate her ninja Sakura’s complaints about stupid shinobis and their ridiculous sense of superiority over all women into something Sasuke would tolerate. Yet when she felt the chills from Sasuke’s warning look, she swallowed her pride and stamped her feet. She stormed into her bathroom to change and wash up.

She entered her bedroom with Sasuke seated in a chair by her bed. In her fantasy, he would be naked and strapped on her bed, but she could make do; she was a resourceful kunoichi, right? Then she peered down to her baggy pajamas with ridiculous teddy bears printed all over the unflattering material and thought against her plans of seduction. The next thing she vowed to do was purchase a sexy negligee. Definitely she could not be resourceful with what she had on.

Still irritated, more by the fact that her jammies made her look twelve than his obstinate need to think of her as an unruly child, she protested, “I’m not going to go back to the hospital,” which she would have done, “and I can take care of myself. Sheesh. You have no trust in me.”

“Hn,” he commented as if to say “whatever.”

She settled on her soft bed and cuddled her cozy blankets. She yawned again and realized how really tired she became. At this rate, her lights will be out immediately. And seconds before she fell asleep, she heard him say “You’re annoying” in that affectionate way once more. She would have good dreams that night.

An hour or so she rose from unconsciousness to shift positions. Blurry eyes blinked when noticing Sasuke still seated on a chair observing her, his elbows supported on his knees, hands entwined, and chin resting on his hands.

“Go back to sleep,” he quietly instructed, his deep voice enhanced by the stillness of the dark, quiet room.

She did not hesitate to oblige to his command.

Next morning she found the chair empty and cold, and the memories from last night were still foggy. She could have sworn that he sat by her bed for a long time in some odd role reversal. Hopefully, it was not something her brain conjured up.

A/N: Sakura will end up with someone in the end. It’s either Sai or Sasuke. That’s all I’m going to say about that. I already know which one, but I’m going to leave it a cliff hanger -- like dangling a carrot in front of a mule. I’m so evil.

p.s. I don’t know when Sai’s birthday is, but everyone has one. I just conveniently made it some particular day so it fits into this fic. Besides, I never mentioned what time of year this takes place. Ninja Sakura getting pissed when other guys have carried her? Don’t forget that she was drunk near unconsciousness the other times.

Yes. Poor Sai. I’m crying. My heart is bleeding. Can you sense my sarcasm? Hey, at least I made Sasuke less jerk-ish.

Thanks for the reviews truly. I’m glad that everyone’s warming up to Sai. I mean in the beginning, it’s all Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Now, it’s Sai, Sai, Sai. My readers are so fickle =)
I’m planning on five more chapters. Hopefully, I won’t stray to make this story longer than it has to be. It will be such a relief to get this done. Next story I write will not be a romance.

Sorry that I had to cut some humor out of this chapter. I found it inappropriate when dramatic romance was required. I hope you like this mushy romance, because it’s so nauseating to me.

Sanguine Dreams: kimbop is a Korean word for “maki”

Everyone: I’m a cheap ass when it comes to liquor. I drank an entire bottle of “Fat Bastard” shiraz while writing this. It’s cheap and surprisingly good. I purchased it when I saw the name, but wow, it’s a good, no great deal! Warning – you must be 21 and over to drink. I do NOT condone underage drinking.